10 Most Hated WWE Champions

9. John Bradshaw Layfield

John Cena
WWE.com

Former APA member John 'Bradshaw' Layfield eventually grew into a top level talker by force of will during his extended tenure with the WWE Title, but the rock bottom perception of his ability when he first dethroned Eddie Guerrero resulted in audiences completely abandoning SmackDown in 2004.

Elevated beyond his station having only just morphed from doubles bar brawler to Texan millionaire, Bradshaw had barely developed the JBL persona when he lifted the title, and hadn't had the sort of match blue brand crowds had come to expect following 'Latino Heat', Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle's stewardships in previous years.

He never got there, either. Layfield stunk the joint out with The Undertaker, The Big Show, Booker T and others even as he work on the microphone dramatically improved. Hated as much for who he wasn't rather than who he was, it was with enormous relief when John Cena was lined up as his WrestleMania foe. Universally popular and still considered credible, Cena was remarkably positioned as the title's saviour.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett